But
all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. -- Matthew 24:
8 (NLT)
Another tragic and unnecessary shooting. Twelve people dead
at the hands of a deranged killer in
I have no answers beloved; at least not on my own. My
opinions mean nothing to the families of the dead and injured. They would mean
less to those who like to disagree. I serve a God however who has not left any
questions unanswered. He has not left anything to chance or the whims of men --
deranged or otherwise. While the nation was caught completely unaware yesterday
-- God was certainly not. The reasons why the world cannot understand the
For
we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers
and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world,
and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. -- Ephesians 6: 12 (NLT)
We always discuss this verse in terms of our struggles and battles as Christians but the same evil rulers, unseen authorities, mighty powers and evil spirits actually operate in the world as well. The only difference is that the people in the world refuse to believe in them. You cannot win a war you do not realize you are even in! The world will twist and contort and assume and guess to make this incident sit better in their collective psyche. They will examine the shooter's childhood and see if he was abused. They will see if he had issues with drugs or alcohol. They will check for legal medication issues. They will check for political ideology or even terrorist ties. Anything to make themselves feel better about something they should not feel good about to begin with. Anything to provide a rational answer for an irrational act. Anything to provide some sense of sanity within an insane act. But they will all be carnal answers to satisfy their own carnality. They will use the common worldly buzzwords to make us all feel better about this one crazy person. They will talk about how he was mentally ill. They will talk about how he was a loner. They will call this act everything to avoid the truth. It will be deemed cruel, heartless, calculated, despicable"everything to avoid the one word that truly sums it up -- evil.
Because using the word evil requires a discussion of right
and wrong. Of good and evil. Of God and the godless. Evil cuts to the heart of
who is behind incidents like this. He has a name and it isn't James Holmes.
Satan,
who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe.
They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't
understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of
God. -- 2Corinthians 4: 4 (NLT)
Satan is the god of this world. He
is the ruler of the chaos. He is the one that convinces people they need not
have remorse or a conscience about killing other people. He is the one that
whittles down the morality of good and evil into chewable bites for the blinded
to manage. But the people in the world do not want to hear this because the
things of God are foolishness to them. Because in order to have a discussion
about good and evil, we all must eventually face the evil within ourselves and
recognize our desperate need for a Savior. There is too much pride in the world
for that.
But my Savior once taught about the
signs of the coming of the end of this age. You see Satan will not rule this
world forever. God has already defeated him and his minions. He has already
secured the victory by the atoning work of His Son Jesus Christ on an old
wooden cross up on
The point Jesus was trying to make
here is that these signs will come as birth pains. They will come closer
together and with more intensity. Earthquakes and famines have intensified over
the span of recent history. The current drought in this country right now is
statistically the most severe we have ever had. Wars are happening with more
frequency. The birth pains are intensifying. I do not recall growing up ever
even hearing of something like a tsunami. I am not advocating global warming
one way or the other but I would have to be blind to think that weather and
climate in general is the same as it was just 30 years ago. As for the love of
most growing cold -- we see it every day do we not? Society has become more and
more cut off from each other. Social networking and media now allow people to
enjoy virtual relationships at the cost of not having any substantive ones! The
depth of our friendships made today are simply two dimensional compared to when
we were growing up. Lastly, when you look at the nature of the crimes being
committed today that you never heard of 50 years ago how can you not conclude
that the birth pains are coming closer and closer together? Sure the 70's may
have had the Zodiac Killer and the Son of Sam but we now have become
desensitized to the Jeffery Dahmer's of the world. To the shooting of Gabrielle
Giffords. To Columbine. To the Virginia Tech shooting. To
These are spiritual issues beloved.
Famous celebrities or sports stars like Richard Jeni and Junior Seau take their
lives from seemingly out of nowhere. Others like Whitney Houston and Heath
Ledger abuse medications or drugs to the point where they essentially take
their own lives. Children killing parents. Parents killing children. Do you
honestly think this is all random? The Bible has it all foretold:
Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens,
rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come
down to you in great anger,
knowing that he has little time." -- Revelation 12: 12
(NLT)
The devil is real and he is angry
because he knows his time is short. What you see everyday in the headlines is
simply him stepping up the pressure on a fallen world. What you see in the news
is simply the birth pains Jesus warned us about over 2000 years ago coming
closer and closer together. But hallelujah for what will follow because when
the time of this world has ceased my Bible says that Jesus will come again and
He will wipe every tear from every eye. There will be no more pain. There will
be no more suffering. There will be no more shootings that make no sense. There
will be no more
Between now and then the only
thing that matters is which side you will be on when that day comes. The side
that has been blinded or the side that sees the spiritual war for what it is.
This life is but a glimmer. Twelve people left their home yesterday to go see a
movie and they never came back. If you are unsaved today I beg you to realize
one thing -- there are only two sides. Which one are you on?
Rev. Anthony
